Chatsworth Park South expanse won’t be paved

Residents Robert Burns, William Sturgeon and Janeem Pedersen are upset with the cutting down of trees at Chatsworth Park South. It seemed bad enough that Los Angeles park officials closed Chatsworth Park South six years ago after discovering toxic lead left over from a gun club owned by actor Roy Rogers a half century ago. Now a leafy section of the park has been chopped down to stumps. Neighbors are up in arms about apparent plans by the city to install an equestrian parking lot where much of their park had stood. City officials, meanwhile, have waffled over the reasons for leveling the trees -- from "poisoned tree roots" to "non-native trees" to "trees that took too much water," according to residents. Meanwhile, as park trees are felled in the San Fernando Valley, the city continues with its Million Tree planting program. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News)

Residents Robert Burns, William Sturgeon and Janeem Pedersen are upset with the cutting down of trees at Chatsworth Park South. It seemed bad enough that Los Angeles park officials closed Chatsworth Park South six years ago after discovering toxic lead left over from a gun club owned by actor Roy Rogers a half century ago. Now a leafy section of the park has been chopped down to stumps. Neighbors are up in arms about apparent plans by the city to install an equestrian parking lot where much of their park had stood. City officials, meanwhile, have waffled over the reasons for leveling the trees -- from "poisoned tree roots" to "non-native trees" to "trees that took too much water," according to residents. Meanwhile, as park trees are felled in the San Fernando Valley, the city continues with its Million Tree planting program. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News)

A small meadow by the gate of Chatsworth Park South will not be turned into a gravel parking lot.

City officials this week appeared to have struck a compromise with locals by agreeing to install turf instead of crushed rock in a one-acre strip of grass sometimes used for overflow parking by the nearby Chatsworth Historical Society.

The 81-acre park, closed for six years because of the discovery of toxic lead and other contaminants left from a former gun range owned by actor Roy Rogers, will soon undergo a multimillion-dollar cleanup. The park is slated to reopen by summer 2015.

“As it stands today, we are happy with the current design of the park and are hoping that plans for remediation go on without delay,” said Robert Burns, 57, who lives in the Rockpointe neighborhood near the park.

Residents had complained of plans to turn the grass buffer next to their homes into a parking lot made of decomposed granite surrounded by landscaping. They said it would potentially spew dust and lower property values, while city officials were concerned that a subterranean contamination barrier installed beneath the grass could cause problems with future maintenance.

Councilman Mitchell Englander’s office agreed to a compromise offer of turf, landscaped borders and lockable gates for the occasional overflow parking and that a meadow, now used as an unofficial dog park, will remain a meadow.